Image classification and information retrieval over wireless digital networks and the internet

ABSTRACT

A method and system for matching an unknown facial image of an individual with an image of a celebrity using facial recognition techniques and human perception is disclosed herein. The invention provides a internet hosted system to find, compare, contrast and identify similar characteristics among two or more individuals using a digital camera, cellular telephone camera, wireless device for the purpose of returning information regarding similar faces to the user The system features classification of unknown facial images from a variety of internet accessible sources, including mobile phones, wireless camera-enabled devices, images obtained from digital cameras or scanners that are uploaded from PCs, third-party applications and databases. Once classified, the matching person&#39;s name, image and associated meta-data is sent back to the user. The method and system uses human perception techniques to weight the feature vectors.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The Present Application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/674,019, filed on Nov. 10, 2012, which is acontinuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/555,789,filed on Sep. 8, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,311,294, issued on Nov. 13,2012, which is a continuation application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/138,559, filed on Jun. 13, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No.7,587,070, issued on Sep. 8, 2009, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent No. 60/944,474, filed on Jun. 15, 2007, and which isa continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/534,667, filed on Sep. 24, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,450,740, whichclaimed priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/721,226,filed Sep. 28, 2005, all of which are hereby incorporated by referencein their entireties.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method and system for classificationof digital facial images received over wireless digital networks or theInternet and retrieval of information associated with classified image.

2. Description of the Related Art

Classification of facial images using feature recognition software iscurrently used by various government agencies such as the Department ofHomeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) fordetecting terrorists, detecting suspected cases of identity fraud,automating border and passport control, and correcting mistakes in theirrespective facial image databases. Facial images stored in the DMV orDHS are digitized and stored in centralized databases, along withassociated information on the person. Examples of companies that providebiometric facial recognition software include Cross Match Technologies,Cognitec, Cogent Systems, and Iridian Technologies; of these, Cognitecalso provides a kiosk for digitally capturing images of people forstorage into their software.

Your face is an important part of who you are and how people identifyyou. Imagine how hard it would be to recognize an individual if allfaces looked the same. Except in the case of identical twins, the faceis arguably a person's most unique physical characteristic. While humanshave had the innate ability to recognize and distinguish different facesfor millions of years, computers are just now catching up.

Visionics, a company based in New Jersey, is one of many developers offacial recognition technology. The twist to its particular software,FACEIT, is that it can pick someone's face out of a crowd, extract thatface from the rest of the scene and compare it to a database full ofstored images. In order for this software to work, it has to know what abasic face looks like. Facial recognition software is based on theability to first recognize faces, which is a technological feat initself, and then measure the various features of each face.

If you look in the mirror, you can see that your face has certaindistinguishable landmarks. These are the peaks and valleys that make upthe different facial features. Visionics defines these landmarks asnodal points. There are about 80 nodal points on a human face. A few ofthe nodal points that are measured by the FACEIT software: distancebetween eyes; width of nose; depth of eye sockets; cheekbones; Jaw line;and chin. These nodal points are measured to create a numerical codethat represents the face in a database. This code is referred to as afaceprint and only fourteen to twenty-two nodal points are necessary forthe FACEIT software to complete the recognition process.

Facial recognition methods may vary, but they generally involve a seriesof steps that serve to capture, analyze and compare your face to adatabase of stored images. The basic process that is used by the FACEITsoftware to capture and compare images is set forth below and involvesDetection, Alignment, Normalization, Representation, and Matching. Toidentify someone, facial recognition software compares newly capturedimages to databases of stored images to see if that person is in thedatabase.

Detection is when the system is attached to a video surveillance system,the recognition software searches the field of view of a video camerafor faces. If there is a face in the view, it is detected within afraction of a second. A multi-scale algorithm is used to search forfaces in low resolution. The system switches to a high-resolution searchonly after a head-like shape is detected.

Alignment is when a face is detected, the system determines the head'sposition, size and pose. A face needs to be turned at least thirty-fivedegrees toward the camera for the system to register the face.

Normalization is when the image of the head is scaled and rotated sothat the head can be registered and mapped into an appropriate size andpose. Normalization is performed regardless of the head's location anddistance from the camera. Light does not impact the normalizationprocess.

Representation is when the system translates the facial data into aunique code. This coding process allows for easier comparison of thenewly acquired facial data to stored facial data.

Matching is when the newly acquired facial data is compared to thestored data and linked to at least one stored facial representation.

The heart of the FACEIT facial recognition system is the Local FeatureAnalysis (LFA) algorithm. This is the mathematical technique the systemuses to encode faces. The system maps the face and creates thefaceprint. Once the system has stored a faceprint, it can compare it tothe thousands or millions of faceprints stored in a database. Eachfaceprint is stored as an 84-byte file.

One of the first patents related to facial recognition technology isRothfjell, U.S. Pat. No. 3,805,238 for a Method For IdentifyingIndividuals using Selected Characteristics Body Curves. Rothfjellteaches an identification system in which major features (e.g. the shapeof a person's nose in profile) are extracted from an image and stored.The stored features are subsequently retrieved and overlaid on a currentimage of the person to verify identity.

Another early facial recognition patent is Himmel, U.S. Pat. No.4,020,463 for an Apparatus And A Method For Storage And Retrieval OfImage Patterns. Himmel discloses digitizing a scanned image into binarydata which is then compressed and then a sequence of coordinates andvector values are generated which describe the skeletonized image. Thecoordinates and vector values allow for compact storage of the image andfacilitate regeneration of the image.

Yet another is Gotanda, U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,103 for a Door Lock ControlSystem. Gotanda teaches, inter alia, storing a digitized facial image ina non-volatile ROM on a key, and retrieving that image for comparisonwith a current image of the person at the time he/she request access toa secured area. Gotanda describes the use of image compression, by asmuch as a factor of four, to reduce the amount of data storage capacityneeded by the ROM that is located on the key.

Yet another is Lu, U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,000. Lu teaches an imagerecognition system and method for identifying ones of a predeterminedset of individuals, each of whom has a digital representation of his orher face stored in a defined memory space.

Yet another is Tal, U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,969. Tal teaches an imagerecognition system and method in which ratios of facial parameters(which Tal defines a distances between definable points on facialfeatures such as a nose, mouth, eyebrow etc.) are measured from a facialimage and are used to characterize the individual. Tal, like Lu in U.S.Pat. No. 4,858,000, uses a binary image to find facial features.

Yet another is Lu, U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,228. Lu teaches an imagerecognition system and method for identifying ones of a predeterminedset of individuals, each of whom has a digital representation of his orher face stored in a defined memory space. Face identification data foreach of the predetermined individuals are also stored in a UniversalFace Model block that includes all the individual pattern images or facesignatures stored within the individual face library.

Still another is Burt, U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,603. Burt teaches an imagerecognition system using differences in facial features to distinguishone individual from another. Burt's system uniquely identifiesindividuals whose facial images and selected facial feature images havebeen learned by the system. Burt's system also “generically recognizes”humans and thus distinguishes between unknown humans and non-humanobjects by using a generic body shape template.

Still another is Turk et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,992. Turk teaches theuse of an Eigenface methodology for recognizing and identifying membersof a television viewing audience. The Turk system is designed to observea group of people and identify each of the persons in the group toenable demographics to be incorporated in television ratingsdeterminations.

Still another is Deban et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,103. Deban teachesthe use of an Eigenface methodology for encoding a reference face andstoring said reference face on a card or the like, then retrieving saidreference face and reconstructing it or automatically verifying it bycomparing it to a second face acquired at the point of verification.Deban teaches the use of this system in providing security for AutomaticTeller Machine (ATM) transactions, check cashing, credit card securityand secure facility access.

Yet another is Lu et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,864. Lu teaches the use ofan Eigenface methodology for encoding a human facial image and storingit on an “escort memory” for later retrieval or automatic verification.Lu teaches a method and apparatus for employing human facial imageverification for financial transactions.

Technologies provided by wireless carriers and cellular phonemanufacturers enable the transmission of facial or object images betweenphones using Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS) as well as to theInternet over Email (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, SMTP) and WirelessAccess Protocol (WAP). Examples of digital wireless devices capable ofcapturing and receiving images and text are camera phones provided byNokia, Motorola, LG, Ericsson, and others. Such phones are capable ofhandling images as JPEGs over MMS, Email, and WAP across many of thewireless carriers: Cingular, T-Mobile, (GSM/GPRS), and Verizon (CDMA)and others.

Neven, U.S. Patent Publication 2005/0185060, for an Image Base Inquirysystem For Search Engines For Mobile Telephones With Integrated Camera,discloses a system using a mobile telephone digital camera to send animage to a server that converts the image into symbolic information,such as plain text, and furnishes the user links associated with theimage which are provided by search engines.

Neven, et al., U.S. Patent Publication 2006/0012677, for an Image-BasedSearch Engine For Mobile Phones With Camera, discloses a system thattransmits an image of an object to a remote server which generates threeconfidence values and then only generates a recognition output from thethree confidence values, with nothing more. I

Adam et al., U.S. Patent Publication 2006/0050933, for a Single ImageBased Multi-Biometric System And Method which integrates face, skin andiris recognition to provide a biometric system.

The general public has a fascination with celebrities and many membersof the general public use celebrities as a standard for judging someaspect of their life. Many psychiatrists and psychologists believe theconfluence of forces coming together in technology and media have led tothis celebrity worship factor in our society. One output of thiscelebrity factor has been a universal approach to compare or determinethat someone looks like a certain celebrity. People are constantlystating that someone they meet or know looks like a celebrity, whetherit is true or not. What would be helpful would be to scientificallyprovide a basis for someone to lay claim as looking like a certaincelebrity.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a novel method and system for providingthe general public an expedient, inexpensive and technologically easymeans for determining which celebrity someone looks like.

The invention classifies a person, or whom a person most looks like, bypreferably using a digital image captured by a wireless communicationdevice (preferably a mobile telephone) or from a personal computer (PC).The image may be in a JPEG, TIFF, GIF or other standard image format.Further, an analog image may be utilized if digitized. An example iswhich celebrity most resembles the image that was sent to theapplication and can be viewed by the user either through their wirelesscommunication device or through a website. The image is sent to thewireless carrier and subsequently sent over the internet to an imageclassification server. Alternatively, the digital image may be uploadedto a PC from a digital camera or scanner and then sent to the imageclassification server over the internet.

After an image is received by the image classification server, the imageis processed into a feature vector, which reduces the complexity of thedigital image data into a small set of variables that represent thefeatures of the image that are of interest for classification purposes.

The feature vector is compared against existing feature vectors in animage database to find the closest match. The image database preferablycontains one or more feature vectors for each target individual.

Once classified, an image of the best matching person, possiblymanipulated to emphasize matching characteristics, as well as meta-dataassociated with the person, sponsored information, similar product,inventory or advertisement is sent back to the user's PC or wirelesscommunication device.

A more detailed explanation of a preferred method of the invention is asfollows below. The user captures a digital image with a digital cameraenabled wireless communication device, such as a mobile telephone. Thecompressed digital image is sent to the wireless carrier as a multimediamessage (MMS), a short message service (“SMS”), an e-mail (Simple MailTransfer Protocol (“SMTP”)), or wireless application protocol (“WAP”)upload. The image is subsequently sent over the internet using HTTP ore-mail to an image classification server. Alternatively, the digitalimage may be uploaded to a PC from a digital camera, or scanner. Once onthe PC, the image can be transferred over the internet to the imageclassification server as an e-mail attachment, or HTTP upload. The useris the provider of the digital image for classification, and includes,but is not limited to a physical person, machine, or softwareapplication.

After the image is received by the image classification server, afeature vector is generated for the image. A feature vector is a smallset of variables that represent the features of the image that are ofinterest for classification purposes. Creation and comparison offeatures vectors may be queued, and scaled across multiple machines.Alternatively, different feature vectors may be generated for the sameimage. Alternatively, the feature vectors of several images of the sameindividual may be combined into a single feature vector. The incomingimage, as well as associate features vectors, may be stored for laterprocessing, or added to the image database. For faces, possible featurevector variables are the distance between the eyes, the distance betweenthe center of the eyes, to the chin, the size, and shape of theeyebrows, the hair color, eye color, facial hair if any, and the like.

After the feature vector for an image is created, the feature vector iscompared against feature vectors in an image database to find theclosest match. Preferably, each image in the image database has afeature vector. Alternatively, feature vectors for the image databaseare created from a set of faces, typically eight or more digital imagesat slightly different angles for each individual. Since the targetindividual's feature vector may be generated from several images, anoptional second pass is made to find which of the individual images thatwere used to create the feature vector for the object best match theincoming image.

Once classified, the matching image's name and associated meta-data isretrieved from the database. Before the response is sent, thebest-matching image or incoming image may be further manipulated toemphasize the similarities between the two images. This imagemanipulation can be automated, or can be done interactively by the user.The matching image's name, meta-data, associated image, and a copy ofthe incoming image are then sent back to the user's wirelesscommunication device or PC, and also to a web page for the user.

One preferred aspect of the present invention is a method for matchingimages. The method includes acquiring a facial image of a human. Next,the facial image is transmitted from a sender to a server. Next, thefacial image is analyzed at the server to determine if the facial imageis acceptable. Next, the facial image is processed to create a processedimage. Next, the processed image is compared to a plurality of databaseprocessed images. Next, the processed image is matched to a databaseprocessed image of the plurality of database processed images to creatematched images. Next, a perception value of the matched images isdetermined at the server site. Then, the matched images and theperception value are transmitted to the sender.

Another aspect of the present invention is a method for matching anunknown image to an image of a celebrity. The method includes wirelesslytransmitting an unknown digital facial image of an individual from amobile communication device over a wireless network to an imageclassification server. Next, the digital facial image is processed atthe image classification server to create a primary feature vector forthe digital facial image. Next, the primary feature vector is comparedto a plurality of database feature vectors, with each of the pluralityof database feature vectors corresponding to a database processed image.Next, a database feature vector is selected that best matches theprimary feature vector to create matched images of the unknown digitalfacial image of the individual and a celebrity. Next, the matched imagesare transmitted to the mobile communication device.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is a system for matching anunknown facial image of an individual with an image of a celebrity. Thesystem includes a mobile communication device, an image classificationserver and a wireless network. The mobile communication device includesmeans for generating a digital facial image of an individual and meansfor wireless transmitting the digital facial image. The imageclassification server has means for receiving the digital facial imagefrom the mobile communication device, means for analyzing the digitalfacial image, means for processing the digital facial image to generatea processed image, means for comparing the processed image to aplurality of database processed images, means for matching the processedimage to a database processed image of the plurality of databaseprocessed images to create matched images, means for determining aperception value of the matched images, and means for transmitting thematched images and the confidence value to the mobile communicationdevice. The wireless network allows for transmissions between the mobilecommunication device and the image classification server.

One object is to provide a system using a digitally stored image tofind, compare, contrast and identify similar characteristics among twoor more individuals. The image can be produced by a digital camera, ordigitally scanned from an original, analog image.

Another object is that the system uses the transfer of the image to anapplication and database accessed via the internet, TCP/IP, WAP, MMS,SMS, or SMTP.

Yet another object is that the internet accessible application iscompleted via a connection to the internet by a multitude of methods,including but not limited to web browser, WAP Browser, MMS, SMS, andSMTP.

Yet another object is that the image is processed to identify usingoff-the shelf feature vector recognition software (or as may bedeveloped in the future) and compared with a database of one or more, ora plurality of feature vectors. The database of feature vectors isgenerated from other images or sources.

Yet another object is that the results of the image comparisons are thendisplayed to the user by accessing the internet through a web browser,WAP browser, or pushed down to the user using MMS, SMS, and SMTP.

Yet another object is that the browser accessible original image and/orthe resulting image matches or comparisons can be viewed by the userusing either an internet connected browser, a wireless communicationdevice or through a terminal.

Yet another object is that the application can compare or contrast anyplurality of available images. The user may chose the database of imagesto compare including those made available by the host, created by theuser or supplied by third parties.

Yet another object is that the resulting information provided to theuser may include third party information, advertisements, banners,pop-ups, or click-through.

Yet another object is that the system can determine the closest matchfor the user's submitted digital facial image against a database ofcelebrities, including, but not limited to actors, actresses, musicians,athletes, models, and government officials.

Having briefly described the present invention, the above and furtherobjects, features and advantages thereof will be recognized by thoseskilled in the pertinent art from the following detailed description ofthe invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a specific method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a general method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a system of the present invention.

FIG. 3A is a schematic representation of the image classification serverof the present invention.

FIG. 4 is image and table comparison of an unknown image and a celebrityimage.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a matched image of a source image and adatabase image.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a source image and multiple databaseimages.

FIG. 7 is a graph of the fitness function.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a training of a support vector machine.

FIG. 9 is a Web page of up-loaded photos from a user of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 10 is Web page of an eye verification of a photo of an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a Web page of possible matches of photos of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 12 is a Web page of a photo of a celebrity of an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 13 is a Web page of a published match.

FIG. 14 is a Web page of a user's Web page on a Web site of anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a Web page of a match published for voting to obtain humanperception data.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A flow chart of a preferred specific method of the present invention isillustrated in FIG. 1. The method is generally designated 100 andcommences with a facial image of individual being acquired at block 101.The facial image is acquired preferably using a digital camera of awireless communication device such as a wireless mobile telephone,personal digital assistant (“PDA”) or the like. Alternatively, thefacial image is acquired from a PC or the like.

At block 102, the facial image is transmitted over a network to an imageclassification server, preferably over a wireless network. The facialimage is preferably sent to a male or female designation site at theimage classification server. The facial image is subsequently sent overthe internet using HTTP or e-mail to the image classification server.The facial image, preferably a compressed digital facial image such as aJPEG image, is sent to a wireless carrier as a MMS, a SMS, a SMTP, orWAP upload. Alternatively, the facial image is uploaded to a PC from adigital camera, or scanner and then transferred over the internet to theimage classification server as an e-mail attachment, or HTTP upload.

At block 103, the facial image is analyzed at the image classificationsserver to determine if the facial image is of adequate quality to beprocessed for matching. Quality issues with the facial image include butare not limited to a poor pose angle, brightness, shading, eyes closed,sunglasses worn, obscured facial features, or the like. At block 104, animage determination is made concerning the quality of the image. Anegative image determination is made at block 105. At block 106, atransmission is sent to the sender informing then sender that the facialimage provided is inadequate and requesting that the sender provide anew facial image. The matching procedure for such a negative image maycontinue, and the matched images will be sent with an additionalstatement informing the sender that the image was of bad quality andthat a better match may be possible with a higher quality image.

At block 107, if the facial image is positive, then the facial image isprocessed at block 108. It should be noted that the facial image ispreviously unknown to the image classification and is the first timethat the facial image has been analyzed by the image classificationserver. Thus, the method of present invention involves processing anunknown image to find a match with facial images of other individuals,which is unlike typical facial recognition systems which involvematching an image of an individual with a known image of the individualin the database. At block 108, processing of image preferably comprisesusing an algorithm which includes a principle component analysistechnique to process the face of the facial image into an average of amultitude of faces, otherwise known as the principle component and a setof images that are the variance from the average face image known as theadditional components. Each is reconstructed by multiplying theprincipal components and the additional components against a featurevector and adding the resulting images together. The resulting imagereconstructs the original face of the facial image. Processing of thefacial image comprises factors such as facial hair, hair style, facialexpression, the presence of accessories such as sunglasses, hair color,eye color, and the like. Essentially a primary feature vector is createdfor the facial image.

At block 109, processed image or primary feature vector is compared to aplurality of database processed images preferably located at the imageclassification server. During the comparison, the primary feature vectoris compared a plurality of database feature vectors which represent theplurality of database processed images. The database preferably includesat least 10,000 processed images, more preferably at least 50,000processed images, and most preferably from 50,000 processed images to100,000 processed images. Those skilled in the pertinent art willrecognize that the database may contain any number of images withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Theprocessed images preferably include multiple images of one individual,typically from two to twenty images, more preferably from four to tenimages of a single individual in different poses, different facialexpressions, different hair styles and the like. The database ofprocessed images preferably includes celebrities, including, but notlimited to actors, actresses, musicians, athletes, models, governmentofficials, and other publicly well-known individuals. Again, it shouldbe noted that the facial image sent by the sender is an unknown imagewhich is being best matched to a known image.

At block 110, the processed image undergoes raw matching of a smallplurality of database images with each having a feature vector valuethat is close to the value of the primary feature vector. At block 110a, the iterative processing of the raw matching is performed wherein thehuman perception of what is a good match is one of the primary factorsin creating the matched images. At block 111, a perception value for thematched images is determined based on the feature vector values. Theperception value ranges from 0% to 100%, with 100% being an ideal match.At block 111 a, the matches are sorted based on predicted humanperception.

At block 112, the matched images and the perception value aretransmitted to the sender over a network as discussed above for theinitial transmission. The entire process preferably occurs within a timeperiod of sixty seconds, and most preferably within a time of tenseconds. The process may be delayed due to the wireless carrier, andnetwork carrier. In this manner, the sender will know which celebritythe facial image best matches. The output of the matched images and anyadditional text is preferably sent to the sender's wirelesscommunication device for instantaneous feedback of their inquiry ofwhich celebrity does the facial image look like. Further, the output isalso sent to a sender's web page on a web site hosted through the imageclassification server wherein the sender can control access to thesender's web page and modify the matched images and the additional text.Further, the output is sent to a voting site as discussed below.

At decision 113, the quality of the matched images is determined todecide if the matched images should be sent to voting site on the website. At block 115, the matched images are sent to the sender's wirelesscommunication device, the sender's web page on the web site for viewingby the sender and other viewers determined by the sender. At block 114,the matched images are sent to the voting site if of sufficient quality,preferably based on the perception value, to be voted upon by visitorsto the voting site.

In this manner, a statistical modeling element is added to the matchingprocess to better match images based on human perception as determinedby the scores for previously matched images on the voting site. In otherembodiments regression analysis or Bayesian analysis is utilized. Underthis alternative scenario, a Support Vector Machine, preferably ahigh-dimensional neural network, with two feature vectors of a match,along with average vote scores collected from viewers of the web sitewill be utilized to provide better matching of images. A more detailedexplanation of a Support Vector Machine is set forth in Cortes & Vapnik,Support Vector Networks, Machine Learning, 20, 1995, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety. The previous voting patternsare implemented in a statistical model for the algorithm to capture thehuman perception element to better match images as perceived by humans.

A more general method of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 2.The general method is designated 150. At block 151, an unknown imagefrom a wireless communication device such as a mobile telephone istransmitted from a sender to an image classification server over anetwork such as a wireless network with subsequent internettransmission. At block 152, the unknown image is processed to create aprimary feature vector such as discussed above. At block 153, theprimary feature vector value is compared to a plurality of databasefeature vectors. At block 154, a database feature vector that bestmatches the primary feature vector is selected to create matched images.At block 155, the matched images are transmitted to the sender, alongwith a confidence value and other information about the matching image.

A system of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 3. The systemis generally designated 50. The system 50 preferably comprises awireless communication device 51, a wireless network 52, an imageclassification server 53 and a web site 55, not shown, which may beviewed on a computer 54 or alternate wireless communication device 54′with internet access. The wireless communication device preferablycomprises means for generating a digital facial image of an individualand means for wirelessly transmitting the digital facial image over awireless network. The image classification server 53 preferablycomprises means for analyzing the digital facial image, means forprocessing the digital facial image to generate a processed image, meansfor comparing the processed image to a plurality of database processedimages, means for matching the processed image to a database processedimage to create matched images, means for determining a perceptionvalue, means for applying a statistical model based on human perceptionas determined by user's votes of previous third party matched images,and means for transmitting the matched images and the perception valueto the wireless communication device.

The present invention preferably uses facial recognition softwarecommercially or publicly available such as the FACEIT brand softwarefrom IDENTIX, the FACEVACS brand software from COGNETIC, and others.Those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize that there are manyfacial recognition softwares, including those in the public domain, thatmay be used without departing from the scope and spirit of the presentinvention.

The operational components of the image classification server 53 areschematically shown in FIG. 3A. The image classification server 53preferably comprises an input module 62, transmission engine 63, inputfeed 64, feature vector database 65, sent images database 66, facialrecognition software 67, perception engine 68, output module 69 and thecelebrity image database 70. The input module 62 is further partitionedinto wireless device inputs 62 a, e-mail inputs 62 b and HTTP (internet)inputs 62 c. The output module 69 is further partitioned into wirelessdevice outputs 69 a, a sender's web page output 69 b and a voting webpage output 69 c. The feature vector database 65 is the database ofprocessed images of the celebrities from which the previously unknownfacial image is matched with one of the processed images. The celebrityimage database is a database of the actual images of celebrities whichare sent as outputs for the matched images. Such image databases arecommercially available from sources such as Photorazzi. The sent imagesdatabase 66 is a database of all of the images sent in fromusers/senders to be matched with the processed images. The perceptionengine 68 imparts the human perception processing to the matchingprocedure.

As shown in FIG. 4, an unknown facial image 80 sent by an individual ismatched to a celebrity image 75 selected from the database of processedimages using a method of the present invention as set forth above. Thetable provides a comparison of the facial values for each of the images.

The present invention collects votes on match results for two primarypurposes: 1) determine which matches are the best according to humanperception; and 2) use the human perception measurement to improve thematching algorithm of the present invention.

Votes are cast anonymously from preferably the internet and/or mobiletelephones and similar communication devices. In order to develop a moreconsistent measurement of human perception for a particular match, aweighted average is used for the match. The weighted average iscalculated as follows:

$W = {{R\;\frac{v}{v + m}} + {C\;\frac{m}{v + m}}}$

W=Weighted Rating

R=average for the movie as a number from 0 to 10 (mean)=(Rating)

v=number of votes for the movie=(votes)

m=minimum votes required (currently 10)

C=the mean vote (currently 5)

The “Weighted Rating” tends to equal 5 (the median) when few votes havebeen cast. As more votes are cast the rating will gradually shift awayfrom the median (5) and towards the average vote. A preferred method ofcalculating weighted rating is disclosed at www.IMDB.com.

The present invention uses voting results to improve selection of imagesfor enrollment. Enrollment is preferably defined as creating a featurevector on a celebrity image and adding that celebrity image featurevector into the database.

Match ratings are applied to the matching algorithm as set forth below.The best matches by vote are used to build a test set. For example asshown in FIG. 5, a test set includes a source image and a celebritymatch are shown. For each match in the test set, the source image fromthe best match is fed into the matching algorithm, and the top 10closest matches for that source image are determined as shown in FIG. 6The fitness of the match is calculated by finding the “good” Actor Matchas determined by the test set, in the list of the top ten matches andweighting it based on match position:

${f(i)} = {\frac{1}{1.5^{x_{0}}} + \frac{1}{1.5^{x_{1}}} + \ldots}$

where x₀, x₁, etc. is match position. In the example above, the matchonly appears in position 0, so the f(0)=1. If the matched actor hadappeared in position 0, and 2 for example, the fitness would be:

${f(0)} = {{\frac{1}{1.5^{0}} + \frac{1}{1.5^{2}}} = 1.44}$

The total fitness is calculated by summing the fitness for each match inthe test set:

$F = {\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{n}{f(i)}}$

-   -   where F is the total fitness, n is the number of matches in the        test set, as shown in the graph in FIG. 7.

Enrollment parameters are adjusted until the fitness function (F) ismaximized. Enrollment parameters are a set of thresholds which determineif an image of the actor should be used to create a feature vector andadded to the database of target feature vectors that are matchedagainst. The choice of which feature vectors are kept help improve thealgorithm results. These enrollment parameters measure the quality ofimage, such as resolution, focus, brightness, exposure, shades of gray,confidence of eye detector, etc. If enrollment parameters are chosen toostrictly, then the variation of feature vectors is insufficient in thedatabase for each actor, and good matches are not found. If all imagesfor an actor are used, too many variations of feature vectors exist andthe good matches cannot be found. By optimizing the choice of enrollmentparameters based on human perception voting, we get the set of featurevectors for an actor that best represent the actor by as perceived bypeople.

The present invention also uses voting results to weigh feature vectors.In addition to using vote results to select which actor images are goodfor enrollment, vote results can also be used to weigh the featurevector itself so that qualities of the image that are perceived byhumans are more heavily weighted when searching for a good match.Biometric security software (Cognitec, Identix, etc.) selects and weighsthe features of an image in order to match an image of a person toanother image of the same person and optimizing the vector to achievethis result. The feature vector can be made up of local facial features,or overall components of the face as determined by principle componentanalysis.

The use of human perception voting results in order to optimize thelook-a-likeness of a person to a different person can use used,regardless of the how the feature vectors are determined. In otherwords, the algorithm for determining the set of feature vectors thatbest represent a face can be augmented with a 2^(nd) algorithm whichtakes these feature vectors, typically represented as a vector offloating point numbers, and weighs the values in the vector so that thecharacteristics of the image that are based on human perception are usedmore heavily.

Statistical methods such as neural networks or support vector machines(SVMs) can be used to feed the source and actor feature vectors andpredict the human perception vote.

FIG. 8 shows one possible scenario where the feature vector from thesource image and the feature vector from the actor image are feed into aneural network which is trained on the human perception rating for thematch. Given many matches and corresponding votes, the neural networkcan weigh the input vector values, v1, v2, etc. and see which of thesefeature vector components are statistically relevant to thedetermination of the human vote or rating.

Once trained, the Neural Network or SVM can predict whether a match isgood or not by using the feature vectors, determined from a separatealgorithm.

An example of an embodiment of the present invention is provided inFIGS. 9-15. As shown on FIG. 9, a user uploads photos to the FaceDoubleWeb site which are placed on a user's Web page 200. As shown in FIG. 10,on another Web page 202, the user uses a computer mouse to select theeyes 204 of an individual 203 in a selected image 205 in one of theuploaded photos. The user selects the eyes 204 of the individual byclicking on the eyes 204 using the computer mouse. As shown in FIG. 11,on another Web page 210, the user selects a celebrity photo 212 frommultiple photos 214 of a first set of celebrities provided by the systemstored in a database. The user selects the photo 212 that the userbelieves best matches the individual 203 in the selected image 205. Asshown in FIG. 12, on another Web page 220, if the user does not like theavailable photo 212, the user may select another set of celebrities,search for a particular celebrity, or provide a photo that the user hasin the user's possession. As shown in FIG. 13, the user publishes thematch 235 on a voting Web page 230 of a FaceDouble Web site, and theuser invites others to vote on the selected match 235. The systemobtains human perception results based on the voting. As shown in FIG.14, matches 237 appear on a user's Web page 240 on a social networkingWeb site like www.facebook.com. As shown in FIG. 15, votes concerning apublished match 255 are collected on a voting Web page 250 of theFaceDouble Web site.

Preferably up to twenty votes are collected for each match. If therating falls below a predetermined threshold, the match is removed formthe voting queue of the FaceDouble Web site. However, friends of theuser that has provided the match can still vote on the match on theuser's Web page.

Code for the voting is as follows: #updateVote(score, facedoubleId)‘updateVote’=>UPDATE votes SET score=score+?, nvotes=nvotes+1,

-   -   rank=CAST((CAST((score+50) AS DECIMAL)/(nvotes+10)) AS DECIMAL)        WHERE facedoubleid=?

Table One provides sample data for the voting:

TABLE ONE FACEDOUBLE Funny Funny Id Score nvotes rank funny votes rank 062 81 1.23 −1 1 0.71 59 1183 188 6.23 2 1 0.48 60 1783 368 4.85 0 0 0 621323 303 4.39 0 0 0 63 484 99 4.9 0 0 0 64 85 20 4.5 0 0 0 65 62 16 4.310 0 0 66 821 162 5.06 0 0 0 67 212 45 4.76 0 0 0 68 83 20 4.43 0 0 0

From the foregoing it is believed that those skilled in the pertinentart will recognize the meritorious advancement of this invention andwill readily understand that while the present invention has beendescribed in association with a preferred embodiment thereof, and otherembodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, numerous changesmodification and substitutions of equivalents may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of this invention which isintended to be unlimited by the foregoing except as may appear in thefollowing appended claim. Therefore, the embodiments of the invention inwhich an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined in thefollowing appended claims.

We claim as our invention the following:
 1. A method, for matching anunknown facial image of an individual with a known facial image of anindividual, comprising: storing on a server supporting a service usableby multiple users through respective remote user computing devicesaccessing the service over a distributed network a plurality ofreference photos comprising identified facial images of individual usersof the service and, for each of a plurality of identified facial images,an identity of the individual and at least one reference feature vectorgenerated from the facial images to provide a plurality of storedreference feature vectors, the server comprising at least one processorthat accesses at least one storage media and being programmed withexecutable instructions; processing, by the server, an unknown facialimage of an individual in a subject photo to generate a subject featurevector for the individual in the subject photo; matching, by the server,the individual in the subject photo to an identified individual in theplurality of reference photos by executing a matching algorithm forcomparing the subject feature vector to each of a plurality of storedreference feature vectors and selecting a reference feature vector thatis most similar to the subject feature vector; based on the selection,determining a predicted identify for the unknown facial image;transmitting the predicted identify to a at least one computing deviceaccessing the service for display with the unknown facial image tocollect human perception feedback; receiving, by the server, humanperception feedback regarding the identity of the unknown facial imagefrom at least one user of the service; and updating, by the server, thematching algorithm based on the human perception feedback.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the service is a social networking service.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein each feature vector comprises at least onevariable that represents a feature of a corresponding facial image. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein the matching algorithm applies astatistical model for comparison of feature vectors.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, wherein the statistical model is updated such that humanperception feedback of what is a good match is a factor in thestatistical model.
 6. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein thestatistical model is updated such that human perception feedback of whatis not a good match is a factor in the statistical model.
 7. The methodof claim 4, wherein the human perception feedback is used to weight oneor more of the subject feature vector and at least one reference featurevector.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein one or more of the subjectfeature vector and at least one reference feature vector is weighted sothat characteristics of the image that are most closely related to humanperception are weighted more heavily.
 9. The method of claim 5, 6, 7 or8, wherein the statistical model is represented by a neural network,support vector machine or Bayesian network.
 10. The method of claim 1,further comprising, upon determining that the predicted identity matchesthe identity based on human perception, storing the subject featurevector in association with an identifier for the identified individualfor subsequent use by the matching algorithm in determining a predictedidentity of a facial image of the individual in one or more otherphotos.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising combining thesubject feature vector and at least one reference feature vector of theindividual for subsequent use by the matching algorithm in determining apredicted identity of a facial image of the individual in one or moreother photos.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein, the subject photo isreceived by the server from a computer over the internet, or from amobile telephone over a wireless network.
 13. The method of claim 1,wherein the plurality of reference photos comprises multiple photos ofat least one individual in different poses and facial expressions. 14.The method of claim 1, the plurality of reference feature vectorsincluding at least one feature vector based on a plurality of referencephotos.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising analyzing, by theserver, the unknown facial image of the subject photo to determine ifthe unknown facial image is acceptable.
 16. The method of claim 1,further comprising processing the unknown facial image, by the server,to normalize the image to an appropriate scale and rotation.
 17. Asystem for matching an unknown facial image of an individual with aknown facial image of an individual, comprising: storage supporting aservice usable by multiple users through respective remote usercomputing devices accessing the service over a distributed network, thestorage storing a plurality of reference photos comprising identifiedfacial images of individual users of the service and, for each of aplurality of identified facial images, an identity of the individual andat least one reference feature vector generated from the facial imagesto provide a plurality of stored reference feature vectors; at least onenetworked server supporting the service, wherein the at least onenetworked server has access to the storage and is configured toimplement computer programming to perform the following: processing anunknown facial Image of an individual in a subject photo to generate asubject feature vector for the individual in the subject photo; matchingthe individual in the subject photo to an identified individual in theplurality of reference photos by executing a matching algorithm forcomparing the subject feature vector to each of a plurality of storedreference feature vectors and selecting a reference feature vector thatis most similar to the subject feature vector; based on the selection,determining a predicted identify for the unknown facial image;transmitting the predicted identify to a at least one computing deviceaccessing the service for display with the unknown facial image tocollect human perception feedback; receiving human perception feedbackregarding the identity of the unknown facial image from at least oneuser of the service; and updating the matching algorithm based on thehuman perception feedback.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein theservice is a social networking service.
 19. The system of claim 17,wherein each feature vector comprises at least one variable thatrepresents a feature of a corresponding facial image.
 20. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the matching algorithm applies a statistical model forcomparison of feature vectors.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein theserver is configured to implement computer programming to update thestatistical model such that human perception feedback of what is a goodmatch is a factor in the statistical model.
 22. The system of claim 20or 21, wherein the server is configured to implement computerprogramming to update the statistical model such that human perceptionfeedback of what is not a good match is a factor in the statisticalmodel.
 23. The system of claim 20, wherein the server is configured toimplement computer programming to use the human perception feedback toweight one or more of the subject feature vector and at least onereference feature vector.
 24. The system of claim 23, wherein one ormore of the subject feature vector and at least one reference featurevector is weighted so that characteristics of the image that are mostclosely related to human perception are weighted more heavily.
 25. Thesystem of claim 21, 22, 23 or 24, wherein the statistical model isrepresented by a neural network, support vector machine or Bayesiannetwork.
 26. The system of claim 17, wherein the server is configured toimplement computer programming to, upon determining that the predictedidentity matches the identity based on human perception, store thesubject feature vector in association with an identifier for theidentified individual for subsequent use by the matching algorithm indetermining a predicted identity of a facial image of the individual inone or more other photos.
 27. The system of claim 26, wherein the serveris configured to implement computer programming to combine the subjectfeature vector and at least one reference feature vector of theindividual for subsequent use by the matching algorithm in determining apredicted identity of a facial image of the individual in one or moreother photos.
 28. The system of claim 17, wherein the server isconfigured to receive the subject photo from a computer over theInternet, or from a mobile telephone over a wireless network.
 29. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein the plurality of reference photos comprisesmultiple photos of at least one individual in different poses and facialexpressions.
 30. The system of claim 17, the plurality of referencefeature vectors including at least one feature vector based on aplurality of reference photos.
 31. The system of claim 17, wherein theserver is configured to implement computer programming to analyze theunknown facial image of the subject photo to determine if the unknownfacial image is acceptable.
 32. The system of claim 17, wherein theserver is configured to implement computer programming to process theunknown facial image to normalize the image to an appropriate scale androtation.